On 30 March, Palazzo San Giorgio in Reggio Calabria hosted the official presentation of the project “Living Language, Identity and the Future of Ukrainian Children”.
The project has launched the book series “Ukraine. Living Identity” and produced its first volume: a basic grammar of Ukrainian as a heritage language, designed for children living in Italy.
The project was initiated by the publishing house Leonida Edizioni (director: Domenico Polito). It is being carried out in partnership with the Ukrainian publisher Bukrek, the National Congress of Ukrainian Associations in Italy (CNAUI) and the association S.Me.Re.Ca APS, with the support of the Consul General of Ukraine in Naples, Maksym Kovalenko. The project coordinator is Maryna Vasyliuk.
The event brought together representatives of the local authorities, educational and cultural institutions, the academic community and the Ukrainian communities of Calabria. Among the guests of honour were the Mayor of Reggio Calabria, Mimmo Battaglia; Professor Giorgio Piras of Sapienza University of Rome; Professor Guido Perboli of the Politecnico di Torino; Annamaria Curatola, a member of the Reggio Calabria city council executive; and Oksana Rohova, Vice-President of CNAUI and head of its Department of International Cooperation.
On 31 March, a separate presentation of the book series, led by the project coordinator, was held at Leonida Edizioni. The discussion centred on preserving the Ukrainian language among children growing up in a multilingual environment.
The project aims to restore, support and develop the linguistic identity of Ukrainian children through systematic and accessible learning of Ukrainian as a heritage language. During the presentations, particular attention was given to the first volume of the series, the basic grammar of the Ukrainian language.
A working meeting was also held at the Palazzo “Tommaso Campanella”, the seat of the Regional Council, with the President of the Regional Council of Calabria, Salvatore Cirillo, attended by the Deputy Chairman of the Chernivtsi Regional Council, Mykhailo Pavliuk.
In a context of forced migration, language becomes more than a matter of education: it is a key factor in preserving identity. The project marks an important step towards a systematic approach to supporting Ukrainian children abroad and has opened up new opportunities for cooperation with Italian educational and cultural institutions.
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